do I look fat in this??

If you happen to be of the male persuasion, stop reading right HERE. This post will not interest you in the least...unless of course you have trouble shopping for swimsuits.
Every woman of every shape and size will be able to relate to this one. Shopping for swimsuits rates about at the top of the list for "worst things in the world you can do for your self-esteem." Rule #101 of shopping for swimsuits should include..Do not ask your 10 year old daughter what she thinks. That's all I've got to say 'bout that. As I'm sure you know already, there are rules for buying a swimsuit...depending on what shape body you have right? Or so they say...the infamous THEY. I would like to meet them one day. Since I'm not quite the size I was PRE-Hannah and especially early 20's...I had always felt a little more comfortable in the suits that have that very attractive, as I like to call them, "mamaw skirts" on them. They seemed to do the trick at camouflaging the ham hocks. I have seemed to notice lately at the pool that there are several women that are quite larger than I that seem to get away without the mamaw skirt. Could I possibly do this? I did check with Hannah on this situation to get her opinion and she said what all girls her age say.."Duuuh..." The next day I drove myself right down to Academy Sports and got 2 new suits...no mamaw skirt involved...one even ties on the sides. Of course, I know that just because I'm minus the mamaw skirt, it doesn't by any means make me all that and a bag of chips like I was in my early 20's....but hey, I look like every other average woman at the pool. Just don't ask your kids or your husband if you look fat in something...they won't give you a straight answer. Probably better they don't. Better yet ask them, "Hey, do I look PHAT in this???" If you do not get this...ask a teenager.

things that make me happy

It is HOT today, but I got down and dirty planting things. It makes me happy. If anyone knows my parents, I got that honest. They love plants and flowers.

Caladiums are one of my favorite. I planted these bulbs not too very long ago and they are already springing up. I chose the pink and green this year..

I bought this tiny little sprig of asparagus fern about 3 years ago and it's turned into a monster. It's so happy in this pot so I gave it a little colorful company!

I wish I had a video of me planting this planter of begonias.. I got down on my knees and started pulling old pansies from the winter out..only to find that it was absolutely full of fire ants!! I quickly did the fire ants dance and checked my arms and legs to make sure none had gotten on me..didn't see any...moved on to the next planter to do the same thing and let the mad fire ants die down. Soon after digging into the next planter, my right armpit started to feel like fire may be shooting from it. I did the dance again and found 2 fire ants under my pit. I know...total over share, but thought it was worth sharing. It was quite comical!

I recently planted 2 hibiscus on each side of the front door and they look great! LOVE the peach colored ones!!

Planted several orange marigolds out front...

This is my little croton baby...it's died several times and always seems to come back to life.

some extra begonias I had left for the outside table..

and last but not least...the tomato plants Drew planted right before he left. We LOVE fresh tomatoes in the summer..but who doesn't?

great inventors, date night and crawfish...

What do these 3 things have in common? 3 of the things we've done since Friday.. Friday at CCS was Great Inventors Day. Each student drew names for which great inventor they would report on. Meet the fourth grade great inventors of CCS: Aren't they so stinkin' cute??

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Ann Moore. Ann Moore was a Peace Corps nurse in Togo, West Africa in the 1960's. She found it very interesting how the African women carried their babies in slings..more interesting at how calm the babies seemed being snuggled to their mother. When she returned home and had her own baby, she tried tying the baby to her but it kept slipping. She and her mother came up with a contraption modeled after a back pack to hold a baby..facing forward or backward. The Snugli was patented in 1969.
Our church hosted a great mother/daughter date night on Friday night...we ate, played games and did Fat Cat pottery. Lots of fun!!

Saturday was Lake Caroline's annual crawfish boil. We stayed between the pool and our neighbors boat all day. There were jumpy things for the kids, live music and 2000 pounds of crawfish...which we put away alot of.. It was a fun day for everyone!! Oh yeah...ended the day with making some home made ice cream..my absolute favorite!

I just realized that I didn't get any pictures of Hannah and I on Mother's Day...we did have a good day though..bittersweet... Drew always makes breakfast for me on Mother's Day. He did call me this afternoon so that was the best present ever..next to my iPhone of course!! Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

Randomness

..is that a word?? Anyway, that is what everyday has been since Friday..in fact, if you've ever seen the movie with Bill Murray, Groundhog Day...that's me. Friday, all the soldiers left their homes and families and now everyone is just scrambling around trying to find their way. I honestly don't know what people do that don't have the Lord...as hard as it is WITH Him..I can't imagine it going through the year WITHOUT Him.
Hannah has been very sweet..she baked these cookies today for me...from "scratch" I might add and snipped some flowers....(Hope our neighbor won't be mad her lillies are now gone.)
Hannah and a couple of friends on the street were perfectly content sitting in the driveway for a couple of hours Monday painting their nails...I even joined them for a while.

I mentioned a few posts ago that Drew's war buddy and his fiance came from Maryland...He sent us a couple of pics they got. We got a laugh out of it cause we look like dwarfs next to them! John is 6'7 and Brianne is 6"1...sweet sweet couple. They are both teachers so they helped Hannah tremendously with her homework!

If I may ask a favor of everyone that reads this blog (all 3 of you)...a friend shared with me a couple of weeks ago that her husband has claimed a Bible verse for Drew and prays it constantly....so if you would, by Psalm 91 in your Bible, please write Drew's name and pray this scripture whenever you can. The first time I read it..I got chills...it was as though God created that verse for Drew. You'll never know how we covet the prayers of our friends and family!!

one of a kind

It's not everyone that happens to have a handmade, camouflaged sushi tray, right? Hannah made this for Drew in art at school. We have been eating sushi more and more lately and use this sweet little tray and it thrills her. She was very upset with herself when she realized that she misspelled Daddy....which makes it all the more special! It just doesn't get any better than this!!

small things

God keeps bringing these "small things" up. And when you think about it..things really are small. I think it may mean more to someone who has gotten through a life altering event..and put in perspective..in a perfect world..it should mean the same thing to everyone, but it's hard to live that way. Drew's last deployment really shook me deep. I felt like I held my breath for about 18 months and then finally let it out when I saw him get off that bus. Like anyone would say about cleaning out a fridge or freezer, "Oh I will NEVER let it get like that again!"..but time passes and it always ends up just the same...or at least ours does..it's because you get busy and you forget. God keeps reminding me lately how this applies to my life in particular. When Drew was gone last time, it was during the long course of his deployment that I realized exactly how many pictures I DIDN'T have of us together, how many movies we said we were going to see but never did, how much time we didn't spend together...and I vowed Lord, we have to fix this! Bring him home safely and I will forget all the small things that keep us from spending quality time together!! I will say since he came back in 2006...we have done much better at paying attention to things that matter and less to things that really don't. I guess it really came to terms for me in the past couple of weeks. We've been busy as bees "getting things in order" (what does that really mean anyways) Re-doing a will, power of attorney, insurance, birth certificates, tying up loose ends...and then came Friday night..a 20 year old young man in Drew's unit was killed instantly in a car accident. He had a full military funeral on Monday. I can't even imagine what his parents must be going through. To have a son about to leave the country and being scared enough about that...never expecting to lose him another way. It really stopped me in my tracks and I felt like God was saying, Heather, you're doing the small stuff again...focus on what I'm teaching you through this. I have a feeling it's almost "pruning" time. Well, let me shut this blog down for today...sorry about the random rambling...got all serious on ya didn't I?
I did clean the tub today...it's NOT a small thing. I consider it a cardio workout....and my husband has caught fish for supper...that's a BIG thing... Go spend some time with your family.. :)

some bottled memories from the past few days..

The Clark family has had a great past few days...the town of Hernando gave Drew's combined units a send off parade this past Saturday. I wish I had a count of how many people came but I'm sure it was in the thousands..Like my husband said in his speech from the square...I've never seen military support like Northwest MS gives... Really awesome.

Had to get a shot of these boots. "You might be a redneck if you have a pair of these...

A good bit of fishing was done too over the weekend..These were just a few of the catch from Friday. One more time and we'll have enough for a fish fry before Drew leaves..

Between working Friday and running errands, being gone all day Saturday...I came up with this little centerpiece for the table for Sunday. I thought it was very bright and festive!!

The kiddos all cleaned up for Easter!!